THE CLEANER

Author(s): CHARLY KÜHNAST AND DANIEL VAN SOEST

You might want to reap the benefits of active directory’s single sign-on for your virus scanning and content filtering. If you also use Squid to handle user access to the internet, you have a front-row seat for “when worlds collide.”

Many companies use a proxy to handle web access. These intermediaries on the network make it easy to look for viruses on pages accessed by users and in downloads. Company management often requires users to log in to the proxy for monitoring purposes, making it possible to assign individual user or group privileges, such as access to the intranet or extranet. But logging in means adding another username and another password – more things for users to remember – unless you happen to use the credentials of an existing system, such as a Windows domain controller to authenticate against the proxy. With a little support from the Samba project, the Squid proxy can grant users access by referencing their Active Directory accounts.